


Winter Ashes

by yukiartsa



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Angst Warning, I tried making it sad, M/M, No spoilers but, also haven't really proof-read this, and total shit but whatever, because i'm a great human bean, merry christmas????, which means it'll be ooc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-19
Updated: 2017-12-19
Packaged: 2019-02-17 00:44:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13065588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yukiartsa/pseuds/yukiartsa
Summary: It always twisted Zarbon’s heart to see snow falling.





	Winter Ashes

**Author's Note:**

> yeah, everyone’s probably going for something cheery for christmas, and i would as well, if all my ideas weren’t cliché garbage, which is why i went for the complete opposite: something angsty and a total downer for this jolly season. 
> 
> not that i hate christmas or anything (i would’ve written some crap for turles if that was the case), but considering the youngest relative of mine is at least 21 (there’s also my second-cousin who’s like— ten or something? but he doesn’t really count, i rarely see him), everyone gets drunk and smokes and shit, so i’m expected to socialise or something, and it’s a very tiresome and unpleasant experience for me, y’know? especially since we drive for several hours to see them on christmas day…traffic is unbearable, and being in a stuffed sedan is even worse.
> 
> so yeah, christmas isn’t that great in my opinion…also i’m working on the 23rd/24th, so i get all that “fun” the next day whilst also mentally drained from pushing buttons at a cash register.
> 
> anyway, my crappy christmas aside, i hope you enjoy yours (wow, way to ruin the mood, yuki…), and savour the snow and shit, because i have never seen snow before, and— yeah okay i’ll shut up and leave now…

* * *

 He remembered the first time he saw Raditz, their first meeting on a dwarf planet just shy of Planet Vegeta’s explosion radius. What remained of the Saiyan planet, save for shattered, scorched earth that now swam through the abyss of space, fell onto the surface of the planet they stood upon.

Ashes fell like snowflakes, burning away ever so slowly as they drifted towards the ground to finally wilt and disperse into the air, much like how the planet had been obliterated: ignored and forgotten to all of time.

Raditz was one of few Saiyans who had been fortunate enough to escape their planet’s destruction; the prince, his right-hand man, and Raditz as his bodyguard — albeit not much older than Vegeta, who could still be called a child — had fled following the king’s murder, but were given no chance to make a proper getaway.

Zarbon and Dodoria had been ordered to cut them off on that dwarf planet and bring them to Lord Frieza alive (preferably, or, in the very least, with some kind of trophy), and his two henchmen had been willing to obey without question.

At the time, Zarbon had cared little for the hairless monkeys his leader wanted to rule under his thumb; they were a group of imbecilic, flea-ridden bumpkins who chased their own tails and bared their fangs at their own reflection. He saw them as a hopeless race doomed to become extinct by their own incompetence.

Yet meeting the fear-stricken eyes of a young Saiyan shielding the prince and a badly wounded older man, he felt his beliefs waver for a moment. Raditz stood before the two aliens with a shudder, trying his best to stand strong before them.

_“I… I won’t let you take the prince.”_

Zarbon’s lips curled into a smirk that matched his companion, who was preparing himself to blow the kid’s head off. _“I never would’ve thought I’d see the day,”_ he mused, flicking back his braid. _“The king was such a blind fool that I’m sure everyone wanted to be rid of him, yet someone is defending his pathetic offspring?”_

 _“Don’t worry, this brat’ll learn his place soon enough,”_ Dodoria laughed, firing off a ki blast that would’ve blown him to pieces, had he not been shielded by the larger, bulkier man who was now bleeding profusely from both his chest, and his head, both skin and hair incinerated from taking the attack.

 _“Nappa, you idiot!”_ Vegeta yelled, although he was still frozen in place behind Raditz. _“Are you trying to get yourself killed!?”_

 _“Heh, guess Vegeta’s kid has more brain than he ever did,”_ Dodoria challenged. Although Vegeta looked clearly irked by the comment, Nappa stopped him from countering, knelt on the ground with a surprising amount of strength still in him. _“You’re Frieza’s dogs, aren’t you? If you’re not here to kill us, then what else could you want?”_

 _“Lord Frieza has the heart to take you brainless apes into his protection.”_ Zarbon answered Nappa’s question smoothly, the smile painted on his face failing to meet his eyes. _“Of course, your cooperation is not necessary, but it’d be greatly appreciated~”_

 _“Like_ hell _we will—“_

_“—Fine.”_

Nappa silenced Raditz’ protests almost immediately, and the Saiyan was surprised to see even the prince willing to admit defeat. _“So long as Vegeta lives, that’s all that matters_. _”_ Vegeta muttered something under his breath, likely disagreeing with that statement, but still seemed accepting of the idea nonetheless.

Raditz, on the other hand, wasn’t willing to accept this turn of fate, and, clenching his fists, took a swing at Zarbon, an attack that was easily dodged and countered with a kick to his chest. Nappa inhaled sharply, struggling to restrain himself from diving into the fray as well, and Zarbon smiled softly at the now sprawled figure several feet away from him, ready to fight once he got his breath back.

 _“You’re Bardock’s eldest brat, aren’t you? Raditz, is it?”_ He asked, recognising that determined glimmer in his eyes and placing it with the name he’d found in the records.

 _“W-Why do you care… P-Pantyhose!?”_ Raditz spat, the nickname going down poorly with Zarbon who shot him a fierce glare, before picking him up with little care for his wellbeing (or dignity; he earnestly struggled against being carried, saying he was no weakling).

Zarbon snickered, and held him up to eye-level, watching his expression falter at such close proximity. _“I think we’ll get along swimmingly then…kitten~”_

* * *

 _“Try again,”_ Zarbon ordered sharply, glaring at the fallen figure of Raditz. _“That felt like nothing more than a light breeze.”_ Raditz, now considered to be in the prime of his youth, pulled himself up on shaky feet and faced his superior through the strands of tousled hair obscuring his view.

Several years had passed since the destruction of Planet Vegeta, and Zarbon had been issued as his superior officer, his fleet specialising in their speed and technique over bulkiness (Dodoria’s area of expertise) and strength (a prime group lead by Lord Frieza himself), which, in turn, required the fastest soldiers with untraceable agility and ingenious methods of taking down their enemies.

Raditz’ size meant he was certainly lacking in terms of speed, but his methods of attack were skilled nonetheless. And, as a result of this, he was subject to constant training under Zarbon to perfect his skills. At least, that’s what the general wrote it off as.

The Saiyan took another swing at a speed most would fail to follow, but Zarbon tracked him easily, and blocked his attack before going for a counterattack — which Raditz matched without breaking a sweat.

 _“Yer usin’ the same technique,”_ Raditz cackled, as if considering this some kind of victory. _“Don’t tell me yer goin’ gentle on me, Z.”_

Zarbon smirked in response, having grown used to the nickname often yelled in the heat of battle (calling him “Pantyhose” was too much of a hassle), and pushed him back, flicking back his braid. _“Just trying to coax you into being rougher with me, kitten. I won’t break that easily, you know~”_

Colour stained Raditz’ cheeks, and Zarbon used this chance to dart behind him and kick him square in the back, before punching him straight in the gut as he flew. Raditz’ body hit the ground like a meteor making its impact, and he carefully rolled himself over once he got his breath back. _“Fuckin’ cheap ass move there, Z.”_

The teal-skinned alien knelt before him, his smile upside-down from Raditz’ perspective. _“What, stating my intentions is cheap?”_

Once again, the Saiyan’s cheeks flared, and he pulled himself away from Zarbon with a stutter. _“T-The fuck is that supposed_ t’mean _!?”_

Zarbon faked a look of innocence, playing with his hair. _“You mean you don’t know? I thought you were smarter than that, kitten~”_

 _“S-Seriously, what the fuck are ya talking about here?”_ Raditz finally managed to ask with a scowl, having regained his composure (although there was still a red tint staining his cheeks). _“If this is some kind of bullshit idea of yours, I’ll fucking gut you like the weasel you—“_

 _“—Hush.”_ Zarbon silenced him, a finger on the Saiyan’s lips to cut off his speech. _“If you want to use that mouth of yours for something, then you can wait until we’re somewhere private.”_ He smirked once the dark blush returned to the Saiyan’s face, and withdrew his hand with a hum.

_“Meet me in my private quarters in an hour, kitten. I’ll answer your questions then~”_

From Zarbon’s quarters, one had a perfect view of the great ink-black beyond. And on that particular evening, a meteor shower passed by, like snow falling at a lightning-fast pace, zipping past the figures of two beings tangled together, exposed and vulnerable to their opponent in a game of passion that the rest of the universe remained unaware of.

That was the first time Raditz had won a “fight” against his superior, and although it was unrecorded, it wasn’t the only time.

———

 _“Earth? You’re going there, of all places?”_ Zarbon sat up at his lover’s statement; travelling to a planet that Lord Frieza hadn’t bothered with, Raditz’ determination that his younger brother was there, was a difficult idea to comprehend.

 _“That’s where he was stationed before Frieza blew up our planet,”_ came Raditz’ response, _“and I doubt they could’ve killed him with such pathetic power levels.”_

 _“That doesn’t mean he’ll be there,”_ Zarbon added. _“If he did survive, he would’ve wiped them out long ago, don’t you think?”_

Although the commander’s logic was sound, it was clear that Raditz wouldn’t be so accepting of that, and he smirked, pulling Zarbon into his hold. _“Ya gonna miss me while I’m gone, Z?”_

 _“Hardly,”_ he answered sarcastically. _“I’ll be able to have my beauty sleep without waking up to a mane of Saiyan hair in my face to suffocate me.”_

Raditz laughed, a small smile crossing his features. _“… Even if Kakarot isn’t there, I just— I need to be sure for myself, you know? I need that kind of closure.”_

_“How sentimental of you, kitten. And what’ll you do if he is there?”_

_“I’ll talk him into coming along with me, and Vegeta can plan from there. I don’t think it’ll get too far, though, seeing how his leadership_ has _lead myself and Nappa so far.”_

_“And… If Lord Frieza finds out that there’s another Saiyan out there, ready to oppose him, what are you planning to do then?”_

Raditz met his lover’s gaze, and read his intentions clearly: Zarbon wouldn’t rat him out, of course, but he likely wouldn’t be able to talk Frieza out of “disciplining” both Raditz, and his brother, for existing without his knowledge and consent. He’d likely kill them both.

The Saiyan looked away, to gaze at a starless night, remembering this instance like he had all the others with Zarbon, and smiled softly.

_“I can think that through once I know whether or not Kakarot’s alive, Z. We’ll see what happens then.”_

* * *

Every day following, Zarbon felt a cold change wherever he went. At night, his bed was layered with half a dozen blankets, and during his missions, Zarbon wore thicker clothing rather than the thin spandex he was known for.

But despite all of this, he still felt strangely cold, strangely…empty.

Finally stationed off-base on a winter planet, Zarbon was thankful that he could put his thoughts aside, following orders to eliminate any and all threats on this planet. Total elimination was always something that Zarbon relished in, when he didn’t need to think about anything, and by the end of his mission, he felt reasonably satisfied with his work; blood, though washed away, still stained him, and the cries, though silenced, still echoed in the wind that whipped around him.

Huddled in a cave with his trusted personnel, they waited for a vicious snowstorm to clear up that was clearing away the remaining debri and ruin like it was wiping the planet’s surface clean. The snowflakes that trickled just outside had caught Zarbon’s interest, and he watched them boredly, half-aware of his crew attempting to reconnect with the main base to inform them of their situation.

Somehow, they managed to make contact with the base, giving and receiving news that was relayed to Zarbon (who neglected to pay attention), until three words struck him out of his absent-mindedness:

**_“Raditz has died.”_ **

He faced the soldier, unable to hide his initial disbelief and surprise with a startlingly pale face. _“Repeat that, soldier! Repeat what you just said!”_ And despite his men’s fright at such sudden orders, they answered with the words that Zarbon refused to accept.

Zarbon stared at them for a long while, before finally making his way out of the cave and into the heart of the snowstorm, despite his fleet’s protests. The commander couldn’t hear his soldier’s voices, the wind that held the cries of the dead, or the ringing sound of his heart thumping in his ears.

He didn’t even hear himself yell, scream and cry of despair, nor did he notice how he let loose his hidden form, releasing powerful ki blasts and punches to the earth and its surroundings, as if that would somehow pull him out of this bad dream.

All he heard was those words, and all he saw was the white snow, his green reptilian blood, and eventually, the black that overwhelmed his senses.

He awoke in a healing pod a week later, reported to have been unconscious, near-death and suffering crippling hypothermia and energy loss that would’ve killed a normal being. He’d been extracted an hour after his riot once the storm had cleared up, found lying in a massive crater, bleeding and unconscious. His soldiers were quick in carrying their superior back to their ship, placing him in a healing pod, and swiftly returning to base for proper treatment.

Once the fluids of Zarbon’s healing pod was drained, he stepped out, grabbed his clothing, and stormed out, despite the buzz of voices telling him to stay and recover, and the sharp pain in his heart, and locked himself in his quarters.

Lord Frieza had been gracious enough to allow him time to recover — although he wasn’t aware of how seriously Raditz’ death had affected his advisor, he believed it to be “a serious loss of potential and power that could’ve been used for greater contributions” — and Zarbon took this time to hide himself in his quarters, unable to stop the pain that filled his body and the tears that he shed with silenced cries made to nobody on the current plane of existence.

That snowstorm had brought back memories of his first meeting with Raditz, when the ashes fell like snow around them, and it hurt to even think about the Saiyan, let alone that memory.

* * *

About a year had passed since Raditz’ death, and in that time, Zarbon had finally overcome his grief, dedicating himself to serving Lord Frieza in any way possible. Nobody mentioned Raditz in his presence, and the commander appeared to have gotten past his death, since he retained that cool demeanour he was known for, although now with a sharper, colder sheen to his personality.

In truth, Zarbon spent his evenings alone in his quarters, watching the stars that he used to watch with a long-haired Saiyan, and he had taken what little possessions he had, and kept them in his quarters, an action that nobody was aware of.

He spent a long time analysing what Raditz’ scouter recorded, from his initial landing on Earth, to the very last moments, the footage cut once the scouter was taken by a blue-haired woman who begun to tinker with its mechanics (she removed the transmission chip from the scouter, and interrupted anything further).

From what Raditz had learnt about Earth, it appeared they were more threatening than he’d first assumed. Not only was Kakarot alive, allied with the inhabitants of the planet, and successful in killing his brother, but what he’d shared about the Dragon Balls had coaxed Vegeta and Nappa to disappear, likely going after the treasure themselves.

The idea was hard to believe, but after Vegeta returned alone, on the brink of death, and Nappa’s own scouter revealing the same information, it prompted Zarbon to bring this matter up with Lord Frieza. Both these recordings were evidence enough to show that these could exist, and perhaps on another planet; the peaceful Namekian planet, to be exact, if Kakarot’s explanation was to be believed after Nappa killed off a Namekian ally of theirs.

Frieza set his eyes on Namek, and left Zarbon and Dodoria to scrounge up what information they could. Whilst the shallow-minded meat shield (Dodoria) had been killed by Vegeta, who was quick to follow Lord Frieza, Zarbon swiftly dealt with the Saiyan, and brought him back to base under his superior’s orders for information.

While Zarbon doubted Vegeta knew more than they did about the Dragon Balls, he had also collected a number of them and hid them from the disadvantaged forces of Frieza, who were unable to track them down easily.

But, a race that had been able to find them, a group of Earthlings that Zarbon recognised from the footage Nappa had recorded before his demise (and the blue-haired woman that had stumbled upon Raditz’ scouter), the teal-skinned commander viewed this as a good opportunity to gain the upper hand in terms of another Dragon Ball, and perhaps a method to locate said treasure.

 _“You there,”_ Zarbon ordered as he landed gracefully before the group surrounding a Dragon Ball. _“Hand me the Dragon Ball now.”_

The two short males faltered at the sight of a substantially greater power level (it appeared they had the capabilities to read power levels without the use of a scouter; it was something worth looking into later), whilst the woman appeared the most compliant with Zarbon’s demands, much to his confusion, but appreciated nonetheless.

 _“Hold it, Twinkletoes.”_ A firm voice interrupted Zarbon, and he glared at the sight of Vegeta landing beside him. _“I’ll be the one taking the Dragon Ball.”_

The alien commander held back his anger, remembering how Raditz had gone to Earth under Vegeta’s orders, and he smiled icily at the Saiyan, making it clear he wasn’t going to lose. _“Have you forgotten that I’ve beaten you once before, Vegeta? Or did **you** hit your head and forget all that happening?”_

 _“H-Huh…?”_ The bald one of their group seemed to take notice of that last bit, murmuring something to the woman that Zarbon didn’t catch.

 _“So you’ve been reviewing Raditz’ scouter footage, then_. _”_ Vegeta commented snarkily. _“I knew something was up with Raditz when I sent him off to Earth. He seemed rather opposed to the idea; perhaps he knew he’d lose_ , _because he had such a terrible superior.”_

Zarbon clenched his fists, resisting the urge to transform; he hadn’t taken up that form since his grieving, and Vegeta was, to this day, the only living being who had seen it. His provocation was pushing Zarbon to change into the stronger form and beat the crap out of him, but he didn’t want to lower himself to such standards just yet.

 _“Raditz…”_ He whispered, as if it was a prayer that could quell his anger.

_“Let’s be real, Zarbon, he was doomed as soon as he landed on that ball of dust. It was his fault he wasn’t strong enough, and you were the one who was supposed to make him stronger. He was a failure of a Saiyan, a worthless idiot like Nappa, nothing more but a meat shield—“_

Zarbon leapt forward at an untraceable speed, punching Vegeta squarely in the gut with great force that threatened to blow a hole in him. Zarbon withdrew from killing him, however, and let his body fly several feet, likely suffering to comprehend such a strike. All of Zarbon’s strength had been thrown into that punch, and although he hadn’t transformed to multiply the damage, it was still a substantially powerful blow.

 _“Raditz would’ve died for you back then, Vegeta!”_ Zarbon yelled at his unmoving body. _“He would’ve sacrificed himself for your sake, and this is how you repay him?! If anyone should’ve died on Earth, it should’ve been you, and…”_ His voice dropped, threatening to crack as he fell to the ground with tears pricking his eyes.

_“… He should’ve stayed with me, that idiot. That’s… He’s all I’ve wanted...”_

_“—Raditz was that Saiyan Goku fought, wasn’t he?”_ A new voice, the woman’s, broke Zarbon out of his thoughts, and the child nodded in confirmation.

 _“Not exactly the nicest guy out there,”_ the bald one commented casually, avoiding eye-contact with Zarbon. _“But what does that have to do with anything, Bulma?”_

The blue-haired woman, Bulma, glared at the bald male. _“It has to do with a lot of things, Krillin! Some of the stuff I found on that scouter talked about a “Zarbon”, and if this is the guy, then…”_ She looked over to the teal-skinned alien, a smirk crossing her features, and the commander couldn’t help but blush at what her gaze implied. A few of Raditz’ recordings, prior to his arrival on Earth, were quite **_embarrassing_** to watch.

 _“Bulma? What are you talking about?”_ The child asked, unaware of what she meant.

 _“Alright, listen up,”_ She stated proudly to Zarbon. _“I’m sure you know by now, but back home, we have Dragon Balls of our own. Problem is that we can’t use them_ , _because a friend of ours died, but we came here in order to bring him back to life—”_

 _“B-Bulma! What are you doing!?”_ The bald one exclaimed, but was ignored.

 _“—They can revive the dead?!”_ Zarbon asked with newfound interest; in the off chance she was lying, he could easily just kill her, but for the time being, he wanted to grasp onto what little hope there was.

_“Yeah, and once we wish our friends back to life, the Dragon Balls will become usable on Earth. So, if you can help us out here, then we can help you out on Earth! Help us find the Dragon Balls, get our friends back, and then we can head back to Earth and revive Raditz for you!”_

Although the bald one was foaming at the mouth, believing she was completely insane to be making such a deal, Zarbon agreed without hesitation. _“I can get you and your friends onto the ship with the rest of the Dragon Balls, but in return, **you** ,”_ he glared at Bulma, _“will accompany me to Earth.”_

 _“Deal,”_ Bulma agreed just as easily, now to both males' surprise. _“I don’t want to stay here longer than I need to, this place is dangerous enough as it is. And besides,”_ she shared this with her companions only, _“all you need to do is hold out until Goku arrives. If you guys can revive Piccolo and something goes bad on your end, we can still revive you back on Earth.”_

 _“B-But that’s another three days!”_ The bald one yelped, but once again, he was ignored by Bulma, who begun planning out the details with Zarbon.

———

With Frieza distracted fighting Nail, it was an easy task to disguise the bald Earthling as a soldier, and Zarbon informed those who asked, that he was assisting him in returning Vegeta to the healing pod.

 _“Unfortunately, he didn’t have the other Dragon Ball with him,”_ Zarbon told them. _“As soon as he awakens, Lord Frieza can probe him for further information.”_

They placed the Saiyan into a healing pod and left, before Zarbon “ordered” Krillin to guard the Dragon Balls, and went to find Bulma, who was in possession of the last Dragon Ball. Pretending to carry something worthless, Zarbon and Bulma (the armour wouldn’t fit her, so Zarbon wrote it off as she’d lost it in battle) carried the Dragon Ball to the main room, and made their way to the hangar, just as the sky turned black.

The boy had been tasked with accompanying a Namekian child back to the Dragon Balls, and appeared successful, if the dragon’s disappearance as they left the planet’s surface was any indication.

Whilst Zarbon operated the ship, Bulma had entered the required coordinates, and relaxed once they were finally away from Namek. She leaned back into her chair with a pleased sigh, although her time of relaxation wouldn’t be long, as Zarbon interrupted her. _“Just because this is the fastest ship available, doesn’t mean it’s worth relaxing just yet.”_

 _“It’s about a week to Earth in this,”_ she chided, but understood his concern, and settled into her seat. _“But anyway, what’s the relationship between you and Raditz?”_

Zarbon raised an eyebrow. _“Didn’t you have access to the recordings on his_ scouter _?”_

Bulma simply grinned in response. _“Yeah, but if we’re going to be stuck together on this ship for a week, we shouldn’t make it boring, right? So, tell me everything about you_ two _!~”_

The teal-skinned alien smiled softly, and begun to tell her how their story began. He certainly liked this woman’s personality.

———

As soon as Zarbon stepped out of the ship, he was surprised to see it snowing. Bulma had talked about Earth in detail, and apparently, snow was uncommon during this time of year; it was something to do with seasons, an area that didn’t necessarily apply to a majority of planets.

The blue-haired woman stepped out and smiled at the sight, looking pleased. _“Ahhhh, I missed this! Being cramped in a ship with Krillin and Gohan, living in a cave, and now I’m finally back home…”_

She glanced to Zarbon, wondering what kind of reaction he had right now; he seemed to have quite a history with snow, both good and bad, that she wondered what he thought now.

He looked…reminiscent, she thought to herself, as she stood beside him. He stared out into the horizon, but wasn’t focussed on anything in particular. Finally, he seemed to realise she was watching him, and embarrassed, hugged his body as the cold finally kicked in.

 _“What are you looking at?”_ He growled, although there was no threat in his voice. _“Let’s just go already.”_

Bulma smiled a little, and, stuffing her hands into her pockets, lead the way to Capsule Corp enthusiastically. She slyly pulled out a small device from her pocket, and let it watch the snow falling around them like petals in spring, and felt her smile widen.

Perhaps the sight of this snow would bring back memories for a certain Saiyan as well, once she could return to him his newly repaired scouter…

 

 

 

 


End file.
